as small as a world and as large as alone, muonna: Like to elaborate on my mentions from...

3:52pm July 5, 2014

Like to elaborate on my mentions from earlier this morning. People on tumblr are all too willing to talk about ableism in terms of autism and depression, sometimes anxiety, but nobody talks about the other conditions. There’s so many posts for coping mechanisms and what to do if you want to hurt yourself, and how to calm yourself down from anxiety attacks.

But this in itself is an ableist statement. It erases so many experiences from people such as myself, who suffer from comorbid mental health problems, and ignores the vast majority of people who suffer from psychiatric conditions that cause hysteria, hallucinations, non typical anxiety conditions like agoraphobia and honestly there are more mental health conditions than depression, generalised anxiety and autism.

I rarely see mainstream sj discussions about OCD, ADD, dyslexia, cognitive function disorders (except “this is not OCD”, which is really unhelpful in the grand scheme of things; not to mention posts regarding “distraction techniques” do not often work for people who cannot concentrate). I rarely see discussions about bipolar and schizophrenia and BPD (like where is my angry post about how these conditions are generalised and portrayed as dangerous to “normal” people in mainstream media?). I rarely see discussions about people, like me, who have compulsions to self harm and that it’s okay if you cant stop yourself sometimes - sure it’s okay to relapse, but the overwhelming consensus is that I’m not trying hard enough, when I am, I just can’t help it.

Nobody talks about them. I don’t know if its because people are comfortable discussing them, or whether it’s that they dont have the knowledge but can we destroy the idea that the only mental health issues that matter to talk about are depression and anxiety?

I have social agoraphobia. I can’t go outside into crowded spaces. If there are crowds I will have a panic attack just thinking about having a panic attack. On a good day I can go out if I’m with someone. On a bad day I won’t even talk to my family if they’re all in one room. I can’t call people on the phone. I can’t go up to my doctors without aid.

I have BPD. The only posts I’ve ever seen about this are people telling me it’s a weak diagnosis and that it’s fake and not as bad as bipolar disorder or w/e. The only posts I see are how this is “overdiagnosed”, my own mother refuses to accept my diagnosis.

I compulsively self harm, have ADD and am autistic spectrum. I can’t concentrate on those distraction posts, I can’t do anything about it when I need help. Where’s the discussions about this, alternative therapy techniques and all sorts?

Honestly, my final problem with the tumblr ableism community is the fact nobody is willing to talk about homelessness rates, institutional ableism, invisible disabilities, the fact it took me 5 years of self harming b4 a doctor would admit I may have had a problem, the fact I can’t find work because of it, the fact the doctors should have sectioned me last year and didn’t.